The Planet Launches DAS

The Planet, in IT hosting, launched direct attached storage (DAS), a new offering for dedicated and managed hosting customers who require enhanced database performance and increased file storage capacity. This versatile DAS product, based on Dell’s MD series, is available in three configurations that can be used as primary storage or for backup and archiving.

Users will experience improved performance and increased security, since each DAS unit is directly attached to the customer’s server. Its scalable design allows for daisy-chaining, so customers can add one or two additional DAS units to support up to 45TB of storage.

Customers are also able to manage and monitor both their Dell servers and DAS devices through the Dell OpenManage management console.

The Planet DAS features a serial attached SCSI (SAS) architecture, which provides higher availability than traditional SCSI technology. It also outperforms SCSI devices, operating at 3Gbps.

"Web sites are the lifeblood of every company that operates an online business, so having a high-speed, highly available site is critical, especially during the upcoming holiday season," said Rob Walters, The Planet’s general manager of storage and data protection. "Our new DAS product provides online retailers — and SMBs of any kind — enhanced redundancy with clustering and failover capabilities. DAS is an affordable way to keep critical data protected, so companies can experience peace of mind any time of the year."

The company offers DAS in three configurations to suit a wide range of business requirements. The Dell MD1000, priced at $300 per month and equipped with up to 15 drives, can be used for server expansion. The more robust MD3000 provides low-cost clustering and dual storage controllers for redundancy and failover. The MD3000 is available in a dual-controller/single-port option, priced at $500; and a dual-controller/dual-port configuration for maximum availability, priced at $650.